Kate’s shin burned where she’d skinned it on the edge of the car. The polar bear was sopping wet, and even though she was incredibly heavy, she looked strangely thin for a bear. You could practically see her ribs. She didn’t move. Kate wasn’t even sure she was alive.

“I sure hope you have a ticket,” she said.

14

Tom Was Right

KATE RAN OFF TO THE PASSENGER CARS TO RECRUIT ANY animals who might be strong enough to help move the polar bear. She came back with a mountain lion, a couple of fellow bears, and a squad of very determined badgers, and together they rolled the polar bear onto a blanket and dragged her into the shelter of an empty boxcar. It probably would’ve been impossible if the poor thing hadn’t been half-starved.

She did have a ticket, though, clamped in her powerful jaws.

Kate very carefully extracted it and punched it. She couldn’t help but think that something had gone badly wrong here, but she wasn’t sure exactly what. She got some towels and more blankets from the sleeper car, and together she and Tom dried the bear and got her as warm as they could. Finally Kate fetched a heaping bucket of fish and a big bowl of water from the kitchen and left them on a tray by the bear’s head for when she woke up.

Kate put a wary hand on the polar bear’s cold shoulder. Her fur was coarse and wiry.

“You’ll be okay,” she said. “You’re safe now.”

She hoped it was true.

By then it was dinnertime, and she went to the dining car to eat with the gang from the library. Tom came, too. The mood was subdued.

“I hope she’ll be all right,” Kate said.

“Sure she will,” the heron said.

“Polar bears are tough,” said the cat. “Very hard to kill.”

“I could probably kill a polar bear,” the snake said. “Couldn’t eat one, though, so what would be the point?”

Everybody stared at her.

“Anyway, she’ll probably be fine.”

It occurred to Kate that they hadn’t all been properly introduced, not the way humans did it anyway. So she and Tom told the animals a little about themselves and where they came from, and the animals told her and Tom about themselves, too.

The snake was an eastern green mamba from South Africa. (“Another ridiculous name. Mamba—I can hardly say it! Only a creature with lips would think of a name like that.”) He spent most of his time in trees. He insisted that in spite of his fearsome reputation he was rather shy and generally kept to himself.